How to Survive Being Stranded at Sea (Video)

World News – Although none of us want to even think about being a part of a boat sinking and being stranded at sea, it happens. Look at what happened in Costa Rica with the sinking of the Pura Vida Princess. The people that were a part of that sinking catamaran were rescued fairly quickly but what happens if that is not the case?

The recent rescue of boaters stranded in Lake Erie is just one dramatic example of the work of the U.S. Coast Guard, who save thousands from the water each year.

But if you’re stranded at sea, how do you survive long enough for help to arrive? And when it does, what is the experience like?

As a demonstration, the Coast Guard placed TODAY national investigative correspondent Jeff Rossen out in the middle of the Atlantic off the coast of Miami, then sent a helicopter to hoist him out on a cable.

Rossen said that being plucked from the ocean waves amid deafening noise and and hurricane-force winds was “nerve-wracking” and “surreal.”